


A Wrinkle in Time

by Drawinganimemaster



Series: Crystal Gems Online [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7393666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drawinganimemaster/pseuds/Drawinganimemaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a strange vortex appears in CGO all the players are forced to evacuate the game and return to the safety of their homes. In their absence Steven and Connie check it out, only to get caught up in a portal which takes them back in time. Somehow, they mess up Ruby and Sapphire's meeting which could have major consequences in the future. Now, it's up to them to make things right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Portal

**A Wrinkle in Time**

**_Chapter One: The Portal_ **

_Welcome back, Sapphire._

The familiar words from the automatic welcoming system announced as the long haired gem stood up from the grass, where she had gracefully landed on her knees.

Sapphire let out a heavy sigh, smiling softly as she looked down at her reflection in the clean stream. Her long blue hair fell loosely down her back, stopping just above her belt that sat on her waist. The eighteen year old gem wore a long sleeved blue silk shirt, that was hidden by the grey cape tied around her neck, and blue pants that were tucked into her brown fighting boots. Her bright red crystal sword was strapped to her back, never leaving her side.

She pulled the hood that was built into her cape up, letting it rest at the very edge of her head.

“To the temple,” Sapphire spoke clearly, voice bouncing as she edified it towards the yellow crystal in her hand just as she broke it with ease between her gloved left hand.

A bright yellow light consumed the blue gem before a silent ‘whoosh’ sounded as she disappeared.

* * *

 

The bright light resonating from the central warp pad caused the temple residents to look over curiously. When the powerful light rays evaporated, Sapphire’s figure became known.

The blue gem waved her gem hand, smiling. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late,”

“Don’t worry about it, ice queen,” Amethyst said nonchalantly on the living room couch where she sat beside Pearl, an arm wrapped around the skinny girl. “We’re still waiting for Ruby to get here,”

Pearl frowned. “Why aren’t you two here together? As Garnet,” She whispered the last part softly to herself.

Despite the fighting being over, everyone still saw Garnet as a symbol of strength. They knew that if she was together, then there was nothing to worry about. But when Ruby and Sapphire were separated, they knew something wasn’t right.

“Yeah, you two are usually inseparable,” Lapis, who was sitting beside Peridot on the stools near the kitchen table, asked curiously. “Did something happen?” The worry was clear in her voice.

Lapis and Sapphire had become good friends throughout the few months of their return to the game. With all of the villains taken care of and with Lapis’s new love interest being focused on Peridot, Sapphire had no reason to be watchful towards her.

“There was a situation that needed to be taken care of earlier, in the cloud kingdom,” Sapphire began, moving down the short stairs and away from the warp pad. “She texted me, in the real world, that Connie had send her a signal through her phone about there being some sort of portal—“

Lapis held her hand up. “Whoa, since when could Connie contact Ruby from the game to the real world?”

“A lot of virtual reality games have applications in real life that can connect to your phone and let you know what’s going on while you’re away from the controller,” Peridot alerted her girlfriend, placing a comforting hand on her knee as she smiled reassuringly. “I found a way to install an application just for Crystal Gems Online, that way if someone needs to contact us about the game they can send us a private message that will go straight to their phone,”

The water gem sat amazed. “When did you have the time to work on that?”

Peridot shrugged, flushing under all the wanted attention. “When you went on vacation with your family for a week, I missed you and I was bored so I decided to find something useful to do. I was going to tell you but this portal appearing kind of halted it,”

Sapphire hummed. “I suggest everyone download that app once this is all blown over, alert everyone else as well; maybe during the fusion battles tomorrow?”

Amethyst cheered, pointing at her former leader with a grin. “Garnet is going down! Opal has been practicing all week for this,”

“Well, Garnet is the strongest fusion and will be battling last,” Sapphire smirked, a ray of confidence shinning. “So technically, Opal has to defeat a few other fusions before she can get to Garnet. And believe me; Garnet has a few new tricks up her sleeve,”

Amethyst whistled. “So does Opal,”

“We’ll see,” Sapphire said calmly, fixing her bangs lazily.

Pearl huffed. “Enough about the fusion games, can we please talk about this portal that just mysteriously appeared last night?”

“Right,” Sapphire nodded, apologizing for getting off topic with Amethyst. “The portal appeared in the cloud kingdom, its strong force has been sucking anything it can into it. We don’t know who created it but Ruby is over there with Steven and Connie, they’re warning everyone to stay away so the portal can disappear on its own.”

She continued. “When it does, then we will have a search party to see who summoned it,”

The warp pad’s bright light caught their attention. Three figures landed on the large crystal sphere; one being Connie who was wearing her causal fighting uniform, Steven who was still dressed in his star shirt and jeans, and Ruby.

The fire elemental was wearing a long sleeved dark red cotton shirt, black baggy pants with dark brown fighting boots. Her blue bracelet, that held her crystal shield, rested on her left wrist. There was also a night black sword strapped to her back, just in case the shield wasn’t enough.

But it always was.

“You’re back,” Pearl said, jumping up from the coach.

Ruby nodded, brushing back her thick black curls; the red headband doing nearly nothing. “I am,” She said, a charming full toothed grin on her face as she pulled the blue gem into a hug, her girlfriend meeting her halfway. “Hello~” She placed a soft kiss on the girl’s nose.

“Hey Rue,” Sapphire said, with just as much joy in her voice. “…did you uhm, did you guys get any further with the portal?” She asked, trying to stay professional but not removing herself from their embrace.

But the mention of the portal snapped the younger girl out of her smitten trance. “Oh yeah, stay away from that thing. Connie and Steven identified it as an immortal object,”

Lapis looked around at the uneasy grimaces everyone made, she frowned. “What does that mean?”   

“When Sapph and I first found Connie, she was identified as in immortal object,” Ruby began, arms crossed over her chest. “That means their part of the game’s system, just like Steven too. We just thought we had all the systems in this game, the thought of there being more is a little uneasy,”

Lapis frowned. “Why, what’s the problem with a few more little kids running around?”

“We are systems made by Yellow Diamond, Steven and I had a mind of our own when we left to be with you all. But a system still loyal to her, or someone else, has access to all the games controls. Someone had to set this thing off; it couldn’t have done it on its own,” Connie mumbled.

Steven nodded. “The best thing to do now is get everyone to log off until this thing burns itself out. We wouldn’t want anyone to get sucked into that portal; we don’t even know where it leads to. Connie and I will be fine, we’ll message you as soon as this thing is gone,”

Amethyst sighed. “I guess that’s the best thing we can do, wouldn’t want to get stuck in here again by this system or whatever,”

“I’ll send a message to all CGO players and tell them to evacuate until further notice due to system repairs and glitches that can cause them to get trapped,” Peridot said, getting to work right away on the message. “If that doesn’t keep them away then I don’t know what will,”

Sapphire nodded in approval, turning towards the systems who sat on the warp pad. “You two stay here and away from that portal; I know what you’re thinking. But don’t be heroes, not today,”

“Yeah,” Ruby grinned, patting them on the head. “We’d like to give Stevonnie a real beating at the fusion games tomorrow and her getting caught in a portal won’t keep us from finding her and dragging her to the battle field,”

Connie chuckled softly, brushing her hair back into place. “We won’t ma,”

“Alright, we’ll see you two whenever this thing is taken care of,” Ruby said, grabbing her girlfriends hand as they logged out of the game.

Within minutes Steven and Connie were alone in the temple.

* * *

 

“But my parents told us to stay away from the portal,” Connie said nervously as she and Steven stood still, allowing the warp pad to transfer them to the cloud kingdom. “I just feel bad about going behind their back like this,” She fiddled with her fingers.

Steven smiled reassuringly. “Come on, we’re just going to check this thing out so we can take care of it fast and then have fusion battles the next day. Think about how thankful they’ll be,”

“…I guess—“ Connie shut her mouth, eyes widening as a bright white light bounced up from the portal in the ground; appearing as a big flash as it pointed in the sky. “Whoa, it’s getting stronger,”

“That’s the idea,” A deep voice startled them from behind.

Connie gaped, standing in front of Steven. “B-blue Diamond? How are you—“

“Alive?” The blue gem smirked, folding his arms as he took a few steps forward causing the children to step back and closer to the portal. “You stupid gems didn’t kill me, you only got rid of Yellow Diamond and once she was gone everyone was too caught up in their freedom that they forgot all about me and White Diamond. We escaped like everyone else that day,”

Steven, confused, asked the tall gem a question. “Where is White Diamond, and why haven’t we seen you two around until now?”

“We were hiding out, trying to find a way to fix what you Crystal Gems destroyed,” He snarled, clenching his fist.

Connie frowned. “We didn’t destroy anything, Yellow Diamond was a bad guy and we saved everyone! Including you, she was going to let you die with the rest of us!”

“Yellow Diamond is now and forever my liege, if me giving my life makes her job easier then I would have been happy to comply,” He said, looking past them and towards the portal that was whipping wildly around the clouds. “But it doesn’t matter, I’m going to make things right,”

Steven gave him a worried glance, following his gaze. “Wh-what are you planning?”

“And where is White Diamond?” Connie added.

Blue Diamond shrugged, his short spiky blue hair whipping madly in the wind supplied by the portal. “He was a valuable sacrifice,”

“What does that mean?” Steven growled, his thick curls blowing in the wind. “What did you do?” His voice lowered.

Connie swallowed. “Yellow Diamond needed to make sure that she had someone who would be completely loyal to her, so she created Blue and White Diamond to follow out all of her instructions. She knew that I would fail her,” She took a careful step back, sick to her stomach. “He’s an immortal object and he used White Diamond to create this void,”

“They hid their true status during our fights so we wouldn’t catch on,” Connie said, looking at the blue gem that had the words _‘immortal object’_ hovering above his head. “We were too focused on Yellow Diamond to see it,”

Steven frowned. “So this void is really White Diamond?”

“Just his power,” Connie said. “White Diamond has the power to look into the past, Blue Diamond got him to retreat into his system form and used him to create this portal. A portal to travel through time,”

Steven’s dark brown eyes went wide, his jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious,”

“I am,” The other system smirked, a shiver running down their spines as it reminded them so much of Yellow Diamond’s. “White Diamond will be fine, I just have to go back in time to make sure that Yellow Diamond gets the message. Then I’ll find a way back and marvel in the changes I made to the future,”

Connie huffed. “You’re insane! Time travel is dangerous; if you warn her then we probably won’t be alive! The gamers won’t be free!”

“Acceptable loses,” He shrugged, drawing his sword. “Now get out of my way before this thing closes,”

Steven summoned his pink shield just as Connie pulled out her pink sword. “You’ll have to get past us,”

Connie grabbed Steven’s hand and spun him around and into her. The blue gem covered his eyes as the bright light hit him in the face and when it passed a gem, now measuring him in size, stood with a shield in hand along with a mighty sword.

“Or should I say, me,” Stevonnie grinned, not giving him a chance to speak as they attacked.

The blue gem dodged the sword and struck back with a punch, only to collide with the quartz shield.

Stevonnie smirked. “Is that all you’ve got? You do know I’m ranked as the second strongest fusion in this game, right?”

“Garnet is stronger,” Blue Diamond sneered, digging his foot into the ground and using all his strength to shove the fusion backwards so it was teetering on the edge of the void.

The long hair gem waved their arms wildly, weapons still in hand, as Stevonnie tried to keep steady. “W-whoa!”

“Top fusion or not, you’re only as weak as the ones you fuse with,” He stepped closer. “Two weak gems can’t expect to form a strong fusion,” He grabbed the fusion by its shirt collar and pushed it to the cloud ground below them. “Now if you’d excuse me,”

Blue Diamond prepared to jump into the void but just as he leapt into the air an overstretched arm caught his leg, he frowned. “L-let me go!”

“No way,” Stevonnie roped him in, using its shape shifting ability to toss him away. “You’re not going anywhere near this thing,”

He growled from where he was tossed to the ground like garbage. “Unless someone goes through it then it will just keep sucking things up until the whole CGO landscape is gone, so I suggest you give up. Unless you plan on going?” He edged, calling the fusions bluff.

Stevonnie bit its lower lip, glancing at the void. “…”

_Connie shook her head. “We can’t go through that thing, who knows what time period we’re going to end up at,”_

_“But if we don’t either Blue Diamond will go to change everything or it will destroy the game,” Steven swallowed. “We have no choice,”_

_Connie glanced at him in the darkness where she glowed a bright pink. “…how will we get back?”_

_“We can figure that out later,” Steven said. “For now lets’ just stop him,”_

Without another thought, Stevonnie jumped into the void without looking back at Blue Diamond. The powerful portal immediately closed after the fusion jumped inside.

“No!” Blue Diamond growled, sliding over the area where the portal had disappeared. “…idiots!”

* * *

 

**“…fighting it out for seventh place!”**

Stevonnie landed on the hard concrete floor just in the furthest spot in the battle dome, the fusion gaped. “N-no way,” The fusions body began shaking, not being able to keep itself together with all that was going on, and split apart.

Steven held a hand to his heart, trying to catch his breath. “…C-connie, are you okay? Where are we?” He stood up on shaky legs and ran over to where she was now standing behind a large crowd, who luckily hadn’t seen them come undone.

Connie grinned, pointing to the battlefield. “It’s ma!”

“Ruby?” Steven gaped, eyes shining with stars in them as he watched the red gem take on Centipedal.

The fight appeared to be nearly over by now. Ruby had grabbed Centipedal by his tail and spun him around rapidly before releasing the beast in the air. The shorter girl summoned her iron fist and punched the beast in his gem when he came falling down. Steven, along with the rest of the crowd flinched, as the gem pieces fell into smithereens.

“Wow, Ruby used to be really cruel back then” Steven frowned. “Or should I say…now? Hmm, back now?” He tried it on his tongue.

Connie sighed, recalling when she was in charge of keeping the players happy. “She didn’t do it on purpose, trust me.” Her light brown eyes looked down towards the arena, she grinned. “Look, there’s mom!”

Steven followed her gaze. True to her words, Lars had offered Sapphire a hand and they were then seen walking out of the battle dome.

“Wait, why is Sapphire with Lars? I thought she and Ruby we happy together a Garnet,” He frowned, turning to Connie for an explanation.

She smiled softly. “They haven’t met each other, well not directly yet. Lars had a huge crush on Sapphire before her and Ruby got together; and they haven’t invented fusion yet so we should stir clear from forming Stevonnie,”

“Right,” Steven scratched the back of his neck. “…but we need to find a way out of here, who else deals in time travel?”

Connie bit her lower lip. “…there is this one thing. An hourglass that resides in the Sea Shrine, it can take you forward or backwards in time; I’m the only one who knows about it because of my previous connections as Yellow Diamonds helper,”

“Where is this Sea Shrine located?” He asked.

Connie shrugged, like it was no big deal. “At the bottom of the ocean, we’ll have to travel to the beach to find it.”

“Then lets’ go,” Steven prompted.

“Wait, you have to know something before we do,” Connie grabbed his hand, causing him to frown in confusion. “You can’t touch anything once we get there; it’s filled with fake hourglass traps. If you pick the wrong one then the building will flood and it won’t be back until next week, so we have to be careful and make the right choice,”

Steven nodded. “Alright, should I teleport us to the beach now?”

“Wait,” Connie stalled again. “Just in case we run into someone familiar, we have to disguise ourselves,”

The boy nodded, digging into his pocket to reveal two purple gem shards. “Here, these will make us look different to everyone one around us but to you and I we’ll look the same,”

“Good thinking,” Connie grabbed a shard and quickly crushed it in her hand, feeling the shards surround her like a mini tornado before the feeling was gone. “Okay, lets’ get to the beach,” She held her hand out.

Steven nodded and took it with a grin. “Right,”

* * *

 

Ruby shook her head and cleared her thoughts as she approached the board walk on the beach, her house wasn’t very far away and once she was home she could finally log off and forget about the blue haired girl. That was the plan.

Her plan did not include getting trampled on by two amateur kids who didn’t know how teleporting worked.

“Watch where the h—just watch where you’re going!” Ruby growled, correcting herself when she noticed they were only children.

Weird looking children, she noted. The sharp shape of their noses and the roundness of their eyes caused her to shake her head, curls bouncing wildly at the action.

It had been a long day.

Steven swallowed, not used to having the red gems fierce glare set on him. “S-sorry Ruby, we didn’t mean to land on you,” He quickly stood up, helping Connie as well before he began dusting himself off.

“Yeah, sorry Ma—er, Ruby,” Connie corrected herself, glancing to her side where someone had quickly ran past them; nearly missing as they almost bumped into the angry red gem.

Ruby growled, crossing her arms angrily. “What is wrong with everyone today, bumping into _me_ like this,” She glanced down at the kids who were starring at her with shocked eyes, she frowned. “…what’s wrong with you two?”

Steven gulped, whispering to himself. “…you’re just really different…”

“N-nothing, we just,” Connie smiled softly, speaking over the younger boy. “I—“

“The log off button is gone!” Lars shouted from behind them, causing the trio to turn around to see the long eared boy screaming in Sapphire’s face; Ruby huffed. “I-I can’t find it!”

Ruby then called for her menu bar, her mouth went dry as she whispered. “He’s right…we can’t log off,”

“On no, it’s happening,” Connie mumbled, recalling the events that had happened a year ago. “Not again,”

Steven placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling. “Don’t worry, things work out for us in the future. Remember?”

Connie nodded, turning to the red gem who looked ready to teleport; she frowned. “Where are you going?” She latched onto her mother’s right arm, looking for some kind of comfort.

“To talk to Rose, she was a beta tester before the game was released,” Ruby mumbled without looking at the strange kids and blindly shoving Connie away from her, but not too rough. “She should know what’s going on, you two just stay out of my way,”

Connie flinched; Ruby really was a jerk back then wasn’t she?

A bright light surrounded the red gem and in only seconds she was zapped away, leaving the kids alone on the beach board walk.

“What about Sapphire?” Steven asked, watching the blue gem try to console a crying Lars.

Connie frowned, breaking out of the shock from her mother’s rude personality. “What about her?” She mumbled; kind of distracted with her thoughts.

“…Connie,” The boy looked at her worriedly, snapping her out of it. “Did your parents ever tell you how they met?”

She nodded casually. “Yeah, Sapphire had trouble teleporting and bumped into Ruby on her way—to her beach house and…oh no,” Connie looked at Sapphire who was still busy with Lars, before she whimpered. “W-we got in the way…Ruby and Sapphire we supposed to meet here and then Sapphire was supposed to follow her to the temple!”

“It’s okay,” Steven tried to calm her down.

Connie shook her head, freaking out. “No, it’s not! If they don’t meet then they don’t fall in love and form Garnet, or save the people in the game, or find me, and Ruby doesn’t save your gem from Jasper! Lapis and Peridot will stay evil! Sapphire and Lars could fall in love!” She turned green at the thought.

“I am not calling him my dad!” Connie refused, face red.

“Relax, we can still fix things, Ruby and Sapphire have seen each other and are already attracted to one another we just need to bring them together,” Steven tried to reassure her. “Now, we already know where Ruby is which is good; we just need to bring Sapphire there and let fate do the rest.”

“Okay,” Connie motioned for him to follow as she slowly walked over to Sapphire, thankfully Lars had finished crying; some things still hadn’t changed at least. “…uhm, Mo—I mean, stranger!” She blurted out nervously.

Sapphire turned around, dropping her comforting hand off of Lars’ shoulder to look down at the kids. “Hello, how can I help you?”

Steven smiled, glad that her personality was much more mellow than Ruby’s had been. “Actually, it’s how _we_ can help can help _you_ ,” He pointed to the temple that was sitting atop the hill on the board walk. “Rose Quartz, best gem battler, probably knows what’s going on with the game and we can lead you there.”

Sapphire smiled softly. “Thank you, that would mean so much to us, come on Lars,”

He sniffed. “Yeah, okay,”

Connie nodded softly, observing her slightly younger looking and naive mother. “Don’t worry; we’ll get everything back on track,”

Sapphire, put off by the use of words, nodded with a soft frown. “…okay,”

The blue gem didn’t know if she could trust these kids but it wasn’t like she had any other choices. Besides, that red gem smasher appeared to be pretty high up in the rankings along with this Rose woman; so maybe they knew each other?

If these kids were going to help lead her to the mysterious red gem, Sapphire was happy to follow.


	2. First Impressions

**A Wrinkle in Time**

**Chapter Two _: First Impressions_**

"Ruby, it's about time you got here!" Pearl huffed as she emerged from the universal temple door, hands on her hips. "Rose was looking for you, we have a problem—"

The red gem jumped down from the warp pad, groaning. "I know Pearl, the log off button is gone," She mumbled as she followed the taller gem inside their meeting room.

"There are much more pressing matters than that," Pearl began, only to be cut off by the activating of the warp pad; she paled. "W-who is that? Only Crystal Gems can use that warp and you're the only one who was missing!" She summoned her spear from her gem, ready to fight.

The bright white light faded away, revealing the time travelers along with a freaked out Lars and perplexed Sapphire.

"You two again," Ruby frowned, glaring at the children as they sheepishly smiled. "I thought I told you to stay out of my way, how'd you even warp here? That pad is locked to out-siders,"

Before Connie could open her mouth to make up an excuse, Pearl huffed.

"Ruby," Pearl began her berating; causing the shorter gem to roll her eyes, she knew there was a lecture coming. "You know better than to bring strangers to our inner sanctum!"

The red gem, not liking being placed with false blame, growled. "But I didn't—"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter now; not when we have bigger things to worry about," Pearl motioned for all of them to follow her inside. "Rose wanted to talk to the top ten as well as all the well known gems in this game," Her eyes glanced over at Sapphire at the mention of gems before she turned to the children, she raised an eyebrow. "…are you two gems as well?"

Steven grinned, hand falling to his stomach proudly. "Y—"

"No!" Connie stopped the boy, giving him a look. "We're just…new gamers who are trying to learn the ropes," She smiled weakly.

Pearl nodded, not really paying attention as they continued to walk. "…this way, not much further,"

Steven allowed the others to walk ahead while he pulled Connie to the side. "Why can't I tell them I'm a gem? They'd trust us more if they knew,"

"It's not that you're a gem, it's what kind of gem you are,"

Steven frowned. "I don't—"

"Your gem belongs to Rose Quartz, she sacrificed her physical form and her gem so you could live," Connie said softly, not wanting the others to overhear. "…Steven…you do know that your mother is still alive in this time line, right?" When his eyes widened she sighed. "You didn't know,"

"I don't think about it that much, not like I used to," Steven mumbled, glancing ahead where the others were. "…I'm going to get to see my mother; I always wondered what she would be like." He smiled weakly, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "I hope she's nice—"

Connie grabbed his hand, meeting his eyes. "Steven, you can't get too close, remember that we're only here to make sure that Ruby and Sapphire fall in love to save the game. We can't make anymore changes, and you can't tell Rose who you are."

"…I know," Steven began, only to be cut off by someone shoving him to the floor.

Steven groaned at the impact, landing on his back as he held his stomach in pain. Connie immediately rushed to his side, glaring at the insulter before shrinking down with fear.

"Watch where you're going stupid kids," Jasper growled, not looking back as Lapis and Peridot followed close behind her; Centipeetle not too far behind.

Connie helped him up, shivering. "I know it's mean to say but, I'm kind of glad that Ruby managed to stop Jasper." She whispered, looking back as the villain's left through the front door; of course, they just had to slam it.

"Y-yeah," Steven mumbled. "Come on; let's make sure everything is going alright,"

Connie nodded, following the boy as they walked down the narrow cave way.

* * *

Connie grabbed Steven's hand before he could break up the touching family moment. She motioned for him to 'shh' as Ruby spoke.

"We're all a family," The gem looked at her crowd; Connie took note of the way Sapphire was starring at the red gem, a soft smile on her face. "And family means, nobody gets left behind,"

Ruby looked at Sapphire briefly before she detangled herself from the group hug. "Okay, that's enough! What's our fist move Rose?" She crossed her arms, looking expectantly at their leader.

"Wow fifteen seconds," Pearl mumbled sarcastically. "That's a new record Ruby."

Connie knew it was coming but she couldn't stop the high pitched boyish chuckle that escaped Steven's lips. A laugh that strangely sounded like Roses caused the older gamers to look in their direction with eyebrows raised. Ruby rolled her eyes at their appearance, she was truly sick of seeing them lurking around like creeps.

"Who are the squirts?" Amethyst was the first to question, eyeing the strange looking characters as she slowly approached them. "And how did you get into the temple?" Her hand automatically fell to her gem as she prepared to summon her weapon.

Steven swallowed and took a step back; he crossed his fingers that he wouldn't summon a bubble do to his feeling unsafe.

Pearl glared at the red gem who saw the look coming a mile away. "Ruby brought them here!"

"No, I, didn't!" Ruby growled out through clenched teeth; her body was heating up so badly that she could feel the ground sizzling beneath her. "I don't even know who they are or how they got here!" She pointed a finger at the blue gem, red eyes fierce. " _She_ and lover boy were the ones who came with them on the warp pad, maybe they had something to do with it,"

Lars crossed his arms and mumbled to himself. "Lover boy…?"

"They just wanted to help me get to safety so we could find out what was going on," Sapphire also crossed her arms, something she did when she wasn't very happy; she didn't like being accused of things. "And maybe they wouldn't have had to help us if _you_ would have been nicer to them earlier instead of leaving them on the beach,"

Sapphire nodded when Ruby raised a shocked eyebrow. "Yeah, I saw that,"

Connie shook her head, turning to Steven as her future parents continued to bicker angrily. "This is horrible, they're over there arguing! They're supposed to be getting to know each other; we should have just stayed in the arena instead of getting involved!" She whisper shouted, feeling tears well up in her eyes as they continued to shout at each other.

No child liked watching their parents fight, especially if their meeting would determine everyone's life or death in the future.

"We've ruined everything," Connie mumbled, sniffing as the snot began building up in her nose and wiping her tears away with the back of her sleeve.

Steven's heart broke, he shook his hands. "N-no don't cry Connie, everything is going to be okay,"

"No it's not," The program whimpered, letting her tears fall freely to the purple ground below them. "We messed up, it's all our fault. Now they're fighting, and we'll never get back home and if we do things will change…" Her bottom lip quivered.

Steven whispered reassuring things to her softly, trying not to make a scene.

"I'm being ridiculous? At least I don't pretend like I don't—" The red gem didn't know what caused her to stop berating the annoyingly cute blue gem in front of her; but she just felt like something was off and automatically looked to her left. "…no," Her eyes lost that fire and quickly softened when she saw the strange girl crying, probably because out her loud outbursts.

Rose looked up from where her head was buried in her hands, trying not to snap at the two gems who were bickering, and gaped. The red gem had just stopped mid insult to slowly walk over to the little girl who was crying next to the strange boy beside her. Amethyst, Pearl, Lars and Sadie also watched the strange sight with wide eyes.

Ruby never stopped ranting, for anything or anyone.

"H-hey, don't cry," Connie, despite her uncontrollable crying, looked up to see a blurry version of her mother looking down at her; Ruby's voice had lowered to that soft motherly tone Connie was so used to and her shoulders had relaxed. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling before, but I'm done see?" She smiled weakly, lowering herself to her knees so that she and Connie were eye level.

Sapphire couldn't really believe what she was seeing. In the short few hours since she met the red gem she has come to view her as angry, mean, arrogant, loud and very impulsive. At first she could see past that and hope to get to know the other girl better, but when Ruby started yelling and blaming her she quickly changed her decision.

But once again, seeing the red brash gem try to comfort a child she had yelled at multiple times, she had changed her mind.

"What's your name?" Ruby asked softly, staring into familiar yet unfamiliar light brown eyes.

Connie swallowed, thinking of a name quickly. "…E-emma,"

"That's a pretty name," Ruby smiled, appearing much like her future self that Connie had come to love. "…Emma, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier and leaving you at the beach alone. I was just in a bad mood and I tend to take that out on people who don't really deserve it," Ruby resisted the urge to look at Sapphire when she mentioned that part and continued. "I'm kind of a jerk, if you haven't noticed,"

Steven found himself chuckling softly along with Connie.

"Laugh it up, but it's true," Ruby confessed, a small smile on her face. "But if I'm ever a jerk to you then it probably just means I care too much and I don't know how to express it." She sighed heavily. "So, somehow you two managed to get into our temple,"

Connie looked away.

"It's fine," Ruby reassured. "If you were able to get in here then it probably means that you're meant to stay here and if you do stay then I promise to be a little nicer, and understanding. But most importantly, I'll promise you a spot in our family tree,"

Connie couldn't resist jumping into the red gems arms and Steven couldn't blame her. Maybe this Ruby wasn't a jerk; she just had trouble expressing herself and therefore distanced her emotions from everyone.

Ruby's eyes widened in shock but they slowly relaxed and she wrapped a comforting arm around the younger girl and whispered. "…it's going to be okay, I've got you,"

"We all will protect you," Steven held his breath as the smooth voice of his very own mother reached his ears, he slowly looked up; the beautiful giant was towering over them with a small smile. "What's your name?"

Steven felt his heart racing; metaphoric stars were in his eyes as he looked up at the woman. "S—Stiles," He stuttered.

"Well, _Stiles,_ " There was a certain spark in her pink eyes. "You and Emma are welcome to stay with us in the temple," She turned her face to Connie who had finally broken away from her and Ruby's embrace. "If everything is all cleared up now, I would like to talk about our first step,"

Ruby nodded, following behind the large woman as she headed back to the round table. Steven and Connie nervously took an empty seat along with the others; they sat in between a calmed Ruby and a silent Sapphire who appeared to be lost in thought.

A large map of Beach City appeared on the table, the two children looked down.

"As I was saying before, Jasper was right about where the first boss level will be; the bottom of the ocean," Steven and Connie looked at each other with wide eyes; the hourglass had to be down there somewhere. "For now I suggest that we move our party there and fight our way to the boss; we should move out now."

Pearl listened intently and nodded every once and a while. "I agree,"

"Now I know that our group isn't very large yet but that will change when we start recruiting others," Rose closed her universe map and looked at everyone. "So in the meantime you will be split into pairs based on your skill and ability; how well you go together."

"Pearl you are of very high skill," The skinny gem smiled proudly at the praise Rose gave her. "You're with Amethyst." The pink gem deadpanned; Steven withheld another snicker.

Amethyst rolled her eyes when Pearl groaned loudly. "It's not that awful," She muttered with her arms crossed.

"Lars and Sadie," She continued.

The brown haired boy held back a huff; he wanted to be Sapphire's partner. Sadie didn't look too thrilled about their being paired up either; her face was a bright red.

Sapphire assumed that Sadie didn't really like Lars too much.

"Ruby and Emma," Rose went on; Connie smiled weakly when the red gem nudged her and gave her a reassuring grin. "…and Sapphire and Stiles," She concluded. "Those are the groups, get your weapons ready and meet at the warp pad in ten minutes,"

The group hustled out of the conference room; the two younger children farther behind.

"We have a problem," Connie pulled the younger boy into the kitchen, making sure no one was listening. "We messed up again,"

Steven frowned. "How? They're on their way to the mission, everything is back on track again," He grinned.

"No, it's not!" Connie whisper shouted, freaking out. "Ruby and Sapphire were supposed to get paired up for the mission but instead we got in the way, again! They are supposed to fight together and then Ruby jumps in front of Sapphire to save her life, nearly losing hers in the process. That won't happen if we're there,"

Steven nodded in understanding. "Then let's just leave now, they will be forced to work together and then everything will be fine,"

"But we have to go to the sea shrine, we can't risk running into them," Connie explained, her head was beginning to hurt with all these loops and twists. "…we have to go on this mission and somehow get Ruby and Sapphire alone together even if it's just for a second; they need to start talking,"

Steven swallowed. "And we need to make sure that Ruby saves Sapphire from the worms,"

It was easier said than done.

* * *

Once everyone understood the plan they had all warped to the underwater dome of Beach City. The clear bubble gave them a perfect view of the wildlife that lived under the beautiful water; Sapphire had never seen anything like it.

Steven and Connie made sure to stick close together, if they were close then Ruby and Sapphire would have to be as well. So the quartz gem walked a few feet in front of Connie and Ruby, not too far from reach and definitely able to communicate without having to strain an ear.

"It's amazing," Sapphire whispered as she tried to memorize the scenery with a deep understanding that she may never see it again when they got out of the game.

Ruby nodded from behind the blue gem and Steven. "One of the best places to be in this game," She smiled softly. "It's funny really; I've never like water but here it's different…it's beautiful,"

Sapphire looked back at the red gem who seemed to understand her so well. "That's exactly what I was thinking,"

"Yea—Ouch!" Ruby snatched her finger away from the inside of her pockets. "Wha—"

Sapphire, along with Steven, stopped walking and turned to assist her; the younger boy backed away when Connie gave him a look that said ' _don't interfere'._ "What's wrong?" She asked.

"That's weird," Ruby whispered as she looked at her bleeding finger.

"What's weird?" Sapphire spoke calmly.

Ruby hesitated before she shook her head. "N-never mind it's nothing; we better hurry and catch up with the group,"

Sapphire made an attempt to disagree but the red gem brushed past her, Connie staying behind. The red gem tried to calm her breathing but she couldn't help but wonder about her suddenly bleeding finger.

Steven trailed behind with Connie, watching the blue gem follow Ruby quickly.

"What's going on now?" He asked quietly.

Connie smiled. "Ruby is about to find out that they can get hurt in the game, she's going to push Sapphire away and fight on her own but we need her to jump out and protect Sapphire; so we're going to have to stay out of the way and not fight anything, but we can't get into trouble either,"

"…okay," Steven looked up to see Ruby snapping at Sapphire. "Things are getting started, we should catch up with them and somehow I need to convince Sapphire to fight without me,"

Connie nodded in agreement, following the boy towards the large group.

"Prepare yourselves and make sure you have each other's back," Rose pulled out her shield and pushed the door open.

It creaked softly and a dark room was revealed to them; they all carefully made their way inside.

Lars held his sword close to him as he stood protectively beside Sadie; she also had her stick weapon in hand. Pearl and Amethyst remained apart but not too far and kept looking around for any sudden movement.

Ruby was standing still with her iron fist extracted; Sapphire was the same with a similar iron fist as well.

Steven and Connie jumped as the door shut behind them all and gaped when the floor suddenly glowed a bright red color. The sudden lighting revealed a large red monster in the shape of a sea worm; sharp teeth eating at bright red grass.

It paid them all no mind as smaller creatures just like it attacked at them; shooting bursts of sound in their direction.

"You all take care of the smaller gems and make a path for me," Rose retracted a pink sword from her forehead to match her shield; Steven quickly identified it as the one he used, he gasped. "I'll take care of the boss." Steven couldn't help squealing, his mother was so cool.

Amethyst was the first to move as she retracted her magic whip from her bosom. "Ha, you don't have to tell me twice!"

"Amethyst we need to form a plan!" Pearl shouted as she tried to catch up with the purple gem who was destroying creatures left and right.

Lars and Sadie were the second ones to move into action. The brown haired boy used his blue sword to crack the tiny gems on the worm-like-creatures and Sadie stabbed them in the back with her spear-like- stick.

Sapphire and Ruby stood still for a few moments before the blue gem spoke up. "So I guess we should-"

The red gem jumped into action and punched a worm that tried to attack her; its gem shattered and it disappeared into thin air. "Just stay out of the way," Ruby muttered as she went on to the next creature; not only talking to Sapphire, but also Connie.

The blue gem simply raised an eyebrow.

Sapphire resisted the urge to roll her eyes and faced Steven. "I guess that just leaves us,"

"A-actually I'm going to take on some worms over there but you can do your own thing," Steven said quickly, trying to get away from the blue gem. "I'll be fine, I promise," He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder before Connie could stop him.

Sapphire suddenly held her head and fell to her knees; a light so bright filled her vision.

"Oh no," Connie huffed.

Steven's eyes widened, he backed away. "Wh-what did I do?"

"You triggered one of her visions," Connie said, pulling her and Steven aside where they couldn't cause anymore damage. "She was supposed to have a vision about forming Garnet, which is why she almost gets killed by the worm, but since you touched her she'll see something else,"

Steven swallowed from where they hid behind a large rock. "…what will she see?"

* * *

_A large bald man shut his mouth and quickly clicked on the finished file. He extracted it from his menu bar; Rose's gem fell to the ground softly. Ruby watched silently as it lit up; transforming into a figure._

_A chubby boy with curly brown hair appeared before them. He was wearing a light red shirt with a yellow star in the center, blue jeans that folded at the ankle and brown sandals. Light brown eyes opened; blinking slowly as they took in their surroundings._

_"…" The bald man reached forward. "Steven?"_

_Said child looked at the older man; he grinned. "Dad," Steven cheered as he ran into his father's arms._

* * *

Connie watched Sapphire snap out of whatever vision she saw. The blue gem shook her head and headed back to the battlefield.

"She needs to have another vision," Connie explained, leaning back against the rock angrily. "If she doesn't then she'll keep thinking that Ruby is a selfish jerk,"

Steven tried to calm her down by resting a comforting hand on her shoulder; even though that was the very thing that got them into this mess. "What was her vision about the first time? Maybe if we know then we can find a way to cause it,"

"I told you already," Connie huffed. "She has a vision of Garnet."

Steven nodded, not losing hope. "Then we still have a chance. She probably saw Garnet because Ruby is an amazing fighter so, maybe—"

"She thought they might work better together?" Connie finished with wide eyes.

Steven nodded eagerly, filling out the rest. "And Ruby, knowing her, she would feel bad about snapping at Sapphire and would end up looking for her—"

"Just in time to see her in trouble!" Connie grinned.

A sharp cry caused the two children to look above the rock they were hidden behind. They were greeted with the entire group staring at Ruby and Sapphire. Lars's face was stone cold; no hint of a snarl or glare anywhere. Rose was shouting Ruby's name hysterically from across the room and Amethyst was freaking out and waving her hands in the air. Pearl looked as if all hope was lost, she tried to stop her tears; but the children saw them anyway.

It felt like they were frozen in time. Connie had seen this a dozen times from her computer screen when she was a program but it was even more tragic when she saw it with her own eyes. Steven, who had never heard much about the Crystal Gems' past tales, was stuck between interested and scared.

This wasn't a game anymore, even if he knew everything would work out he couldn't help but shiver as a drop of blood fell on Sapphire's face.

"Wha-" Sapphire started as she wiped it off with her fingers.

It was blood.

Not just any blood, her eyes widened so large that she was sure that her bangs couldn't hide them.

It was Ruby's blood.

The red girl in question stood tall with her arms stretched far, protecting Sapphire. The sharp tail from the worm had pierced her side; which should be fine it is just a game right? The least that could happen is that her energy level would go down to eighty. Her energy bar did in fact fall but so did the fresh and very real looking blood from her now gushing side.

"No, no, no…" The calm gem was now erratic as she whispered that word over and over.

The children watched quietly as Rose destroyed the worm and the sharp tail was removed from Ruby's side; the red girl fell forward. But Rose was quick to catch the smaller gem in her open arms.

"Sapphire…" The red gem struggled to speak with the shooting pain. "I'm s-sorry,"

The red gem then closed her eyes and took refuge in the arms of her leader.

"Pearl snap out of it and get Sapphire somewhere safe," Rose called to her menu bar and looked at Amethyst; Steven watched his mother turn into a strong leader in seconds. "Come with me back to the temple so we can help her,"

For once the purple gem spoke no words and did exactly what she was told. In the blink of an eye they were both teleported out.

Pearl quickly wiped the tears from her face and removed her eyes from the spots of blood on the floor. "Sadie and Lars go back to the temple and don't do anything until Rose gives us orders."

Both teenagers followed her instructions and got ready to teleport. Lars looked at the blue girl who was still in a much deserved shock before leaving with the blonde girl.

"You two," Pearl said sternly; Connie and Steven jumped, they resisted the urge to run and see if Ruby was okay. "…you look shaken up too, so how about you join Sapphire and I."

Connie shook her head. "W-we should go back to the temple an—"

"No, I want to keep an eye on you two," Pearl stopped her. "You're coming with us," There wasn't much room for arguing and they didn't want to upset the blue gem who still seemed to be dazed.

Sapphire couldn't think straight. All she could see in her mind was deep crimson red drops falling on her face and a high pitched scream ringing in her ears. She sat in fetal position as she looked at her shaky hands; she was a mess.

She heard a soft voice in the distance that was probably Pearl's but the only voice she wanted to hear was probably gone right now.

Ruby was still hurt. She needed to make sure that she was okay.

"Sapphire, are you okay?"

The blue girl shook her head and rose to her feet. "Pearl, I need to make sure that she's okay-"

"No. Rose told me to keep you away for a while," The taller girl got ready to teleport. "I know the perfect place we can go to."

Pretty much against their will, Sapphire, Steven and Connie were dragged with Pearl to another area in the game. A bright light consumed them before they landed in front of a rundown van.

Connie closed her eyes and whispered softly. "…of all places,"

"Is this the place that Lars told me about?" Sapphire glared at Pearl in frustration. "I don't need a new weapon; I need to see if Ruby is okay!" She had lost every shred of patience in her body.

Pearl rolled her eyes and sighed. "I liked you so much better when you were _quiet_ and calm," She looked around the landscape and shouted. "Greg!"

"Yo," Greg replied, walking down his shaky wooden steps with a smile. "Pearl, how's it going?" He looked over at Sapphire and the two children in curiosity.

"…dad," Connie heard Steven's breathless response; her hand automatically took his into hers. "…it's fine, I know," He replied softly at the feeling of the tight grip she had on him.

"Never seen you three around these parts," He wiped his hands off on his fabric and held his hand out. "The name is Greg Universe and you are?" He nodded towards the children first.

Connie waved politely. "Emma,"

"Stiles," Steven muttered.

When Greg's dark brown eyes landed on her, Sapphire took a much needed deep breath to calm down and quickly shook his hand. "Sapphire,"

"Uh," Greg mumbled, sensing the tension already.

Pearl shook her head. "We were fighting a boss and things got a little _problematic_."

"I see." He turned serious and motioned for them to follow him inside. "You all can take a quick seat on the couch while I fix us up some port chops,"

Steven smiled, walking closely behind his father who he rarely saw anymore. "…those are my favorite,"

"You know what they say kid," Greg grinned down at the child. "If every port chop weren't perfect—"

Steven whispered along with him. "We wouldn't have hotdogs…yeah," His smile widened as he continued to look up at his father happily. "Do you need some help?"

Greg shrugged, also smiling. "I guess," He motioned for Steven and Connie to follow him into the mini kitchen. "…we should give those two some space anyway,"

Connie looked back to see them talking, she tuned in.

Sapphire felt a soft hand on her shoulder; Pearl was smiling down at her. "Trust me; you're going to thank me later when you taste his cooking…" The gem took a seat and crossed her legs. "Besides I think you need a break,"

"I…" She finally nodded in defeat. "Okay."

She had to trust her family and have faith in them to take care of Ruby and herself as well. Sapphire finally calmed down and smiled softly at Pearl.

"I'll trust you,"

Connie nudged the younger boy beside her and smiled. "I think everything is going back to normal, so once Pearl gives us the clear we will head back to the temple. When they go on a new mission we'll tell them that we're still shaken up from the last one and that we should just sit this one out,"

"Then when the coast is clear we'll head back to the Sea Shrine and retrieve the hourglass," Steven concluded. "…what if they go looking for us? That will halt their whole operation and then they'll waste time an—"

Connie placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry; everything is going to be fine. We fixed what we messed up and now we just have to let Ruby and Sapphire do the rest,"

"But we still don't know if they'll fall for each other," Steven argued, not understanding why Connie was being so calm.

Connie smiled softly. "We just have to believe that their love is strong enough,"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot just how much fun I had writing the original Crystal Gems Online but when I wrote this I was reminded, it's just so much fun. This is it for now but I'll update later next week, please review and let me know what you think.
> 
> I'll see you guys soon.


	3. The sword and the shield

**Crystal Gems Online Presents:**

**A Wrinkle in Time**

**Chapter Three: _The sword and the shield_**

“What happens now?” Steven whispered softly to the other program from where he sat beside her at the dinner table.

Connie looked away from Greg and Pearl, who were lost in a deep conversation as they prepared whatever food they were making, to glance back at Sapphire who was drifting off on the couch. “Mom is going to wake up and go on a short adventure to look for an ice crystal. When she gets it, she’s going to make the weapons that end up winning this game,”

Steven squealed quietly, stars in his bright brown eyes. “Oh man, I can’t believe that we’re going to watch history unfold!”

“We’re not going to watch anything,” Connie softly but sternly chastised him with a small glare. “Who knows what we will change if we go with Sapphire to get the crystals! Our best bet is to just stay here and wait for everything to fall into place.”

The young boy nodded his head sheepishly. “I guess you’re right. And we still need to go to the undersea shrine to get that time travel stopwatch, and we don’t know how long it will be there. What if some other travelers pick the wrong one, then we’ll have to wait another hundred years!” He whisper shouted.

“Don’t worry,” Connie placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It won’t take much longer. Once mom is ready to go then Pearl will give us full reign again. Then we can make up some excuse about finding some relatives in the game or deciding to take our own path.”

Steven still seemed unsure but her trusted the other program with his life so he gave a firm nod. “Yeah, okay,”

A boisterous sound erupted from Greg as he placed a tray of pork chops, corn on the cob and barbeque ribs on the table before the children. Pearl, in the time that Greg had been setting up the table, had left to retrieve a still unstable Sapphire from the couch.

Connie couldn’t help but lick her lips as the smell graced her senses. “Wow, this all looks amazing!”

“Yeah my dad—“ Steven cut himself off before Greg could hear his slip, he swallowed. “Y-you seem like a really good cook. And I can’t wait to try all of this,” He grinned, eyeing the pork chops greedily.

Greg sat down across from the children at the head of the table, he looked at Pearl who had just returned with the blue gem. “I’ll pack a few to-go plates for you guys to take back to the temple,” He warily looked at the children before speaking hesitantly. “So uhm…what happened on the mission?”

“You guys can dig in,” Pearl told the children who began to do just that. “Well,” She glanced towards Sapphire as they each took a seat at the table.

Sapphire noticed the stare and gave a firm nod. “It’s okay. I’m fine now,”

Pearl nodded apprehensively before looking back at the brown-haired male. “You’re aware of the situation with us not being able to log off, correct?”

Greg sighed softly and looked away with a frown. “Yeah, who the heck isn’t?”

“Well, in addition to that horrendous fact,” Pearl tightened her fist and glared at the wood table. “It turns out that you may actually be able to be killed within the game as well,”

Sapphire whipped her head to look at Pearl; eyes wide in fear. Connie assumed that Sapphire wasn’t aware that death could be a possibility at this moment. She wished she could tell her mother that everything would work out in the future but she couldn’t chance changing everything.

Instead, Connie gripped her fork and kept her face down. She was sure she would snap if she had to see another painful look on her mothers’ face.

Pearl continued, keeping her gaze away from anyone. “During our mission Ruby was stabbed in the side while trying to protect Sapphire and we thought it would be fine because what’s twenty percent to your health points, right?” She swallowed thickly as her eyes began to water.

“A-and then we saw blood dripping,” Pearl chocked on a sob. “And we thought graphics can’t be that good and when we removed the tail she passed out onto Rose…” Pearl broke down into tears, Sapphire had to clench her eyes shut to keep herself from crying as well. “She’s like a little sister to me, she can’t—“

Greg rubbed his red eyes. “Hey it’s okay, Rose knows what she is doing…” He paused before looking around the inside of his van. “I’m guessing that Rose will call you guys when your due back so in the meantime why don’t you all get some rest; it’s getting dark out,”

With a few arguments over the sleeping arrangements, they finally came to an agreement; Pearl and Steven would share the queen size bed in Greg’s room, Connie would take the couch, Sapphire would sleep at the floor beneath her and Greg would tinker with his weapons and get rest in the morning.

The occasional sound of metal hitting metal could be heard from their spot in the living room. Connie tried, but even she couldn’t sleep; Sapphire’s insomnia had rubbed off on her.

Unknown to each of them, they both had their eyes trained on the ceiling above.

Connie did however, hear the defeated sigh that her mother let out.

“Can’t sleep?” Greg’s voice startled them from his spot where he leaned against the kitchen door.

Sapphire nodded firmly, keeping her guard up. “Yeah, I’ve a lot on my mind.”

“When I can’t sleep I like to tinker a little bit,” He motioned for her to follow him. “Come on, I’ll show you how to make a sword…Emma, you should come too,” He said before walking back outside.

Connie cursed under her breath for receiving an unwanted invitation; this was supposed to be Sapphire’s journey; she shouldn’t get involved.

Sapphire lay still for a minute before getting up from the floor, she eyed the time traveler. “…aren’t you coming? Maybe this can help get our minds off everything that has happened.” She held out a hand.

Connie, not being able to resist obeying her mothers’ wishes, took her hand and let her help her from the couch. “…alright.” She muttered softly before following the older woman outside.

They found the brown-haired male sitting in a wooden chair outside the van. In front of him was a small wood table with a large iron hammer; Sapphire gestured for Connie to take the only seat available while she stood near the edge to observe.

Connie sighed, just another sign that she didn’t belong here.

“So, before I can make you two a sword I need to know your fighting styles,” He smiled softly at them, looking to Sapphire first; she needed this the most it appeared. “You’re a gem, right? What kind of power ups do you have?”

“I have an iron fist,” Sapphire motioned to the gem on her right hand. “And I had a sword but I decided to toss it away because it didn’t seem very useful to me during my first battle.”

Connie recalled Sapphire throwing her dingy sword away in the mist of battle in the arena.

Greg nodded thoughtfully. "Well you can't always rely on your gem so how about I make you a powerful sword that will make all the other players jealous?"

"It doesn't really matter to me," Sapphire looked down at her blue hands in thought. "Even if I had a proper sword it still doesn't change the fact that I don't know how to use it."

Greg shrugged. "That's why we have arena battles kid; to learn how to use your weapons well."

"I guess you're right," She sighed; still not in the mood to make a sword.

He noticed this and quickly went on. "But before I can make your weapon I will need something strong like an ice crystal." He called to his menu bar and pulled up a map of yet another unknown area to Sapphire. "This is called the ice kingdom and here they have large ice like crystals everywhere. Their strong cell structure makes for amazing shields and swords."

"How about you head over there and pick up a few of them?" His map went away and he smiled at her. "Nobody in the game knows that you can make swords from ice crystals and you'd be the only person with a sword or shield of such strength." He grinned at Connie. “What about you, are you a swords girl?”

Connie couldn’t deny that she was indeed. “I am, but my weapons are up to date and I don’t like fighting as much.” She lied with ease, trying to find a way out of joining Sapphire on her mission.

"Can I get you to make me a shield and a sword?" The blue girl asked suddenly after being lost in thought for some time.

Greg smiled at her sudden interest, drawing his attention away from Connie. "If you get me enough crystals,"

"Then I'll go," Sapphire crossed her arms. "It's called the ice Kingdom, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah it shouldn't be that hard to find," Greg then sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Just uhm, try to get back before Pearl notices that you're gone; she doesn't want you to leave."

Sapphire rolled her eyes at her overprotective companion. "Then why are you letting me go," She snapped as she suddenly lost her temper.

Connie flinched at the brusque tone in her voice. She concluded that no Ruby equaled an ill-tempered Sapphire, one she did not want to get to know any time soon.

"It seems like you can use a break," Greg smiled sadly. "You're not the only one who cares about her Sapphire." The blue girl finally looked at the man.

Connie could tell that this was the first time that Sapphire took the chance to look at Greg.

To the large bags under his now red eyes and the fake smile he used to hide his emotions.

"Ruby is like a daughter to me," Greg chuckled softly. "On rare occasions when Rose isn't around she actually comes to me with her problems and asks me for help. Me of all people!" He continued to laugh ruefully. "The screw up,"

He looked to the ground as Sapphire listened quietly, Connie listened as well but she felt as if she were intruding on a private moment. "But she doesn't see me as a screw up. In a way, she and I are just a like," He smiles. "We are both outsiders who are judged; here and in the real world."

"Trust me when I say this," He looked over at Sapphire. "I know that Ruby can be a little bit short tempered at times,"

' _A little?'_  Sapphire thought sarcastically.

"But she cares," Greg smiles softly. "She just has a hard time showing it."

Connie felt herself smile in quiet agreement and could tell by the look on Sapphire’s face, that she knew as well. If Ruby risking her life for Sapphire wasn’t a big enough gesture, then she didn’t know what was.

"Thank you Greg," Sapphire smiled genuinely. "I can see why Ruby goes to you for advice-" Sapphire paused and sheepishly grinned. "Sorry if I seem a little impatient,"

The word itself seemed foreign on Sapphire’s tongue as she spoke it.

"I'm not usually like this but Ruby…" Sapphire chuckled. "Let's just say she gets a reaction out of me."

Greg laughed along with her. "I think she does that to all of us Sapphire,"

“Do you want to come along?” Sapphire politely asked Connie.

As much as the younger girl wanted to see her mother go on a life changing quest, she knew that it was too risky. “…no thanks, I’m actually getting a little sleepy so I might head back to bed soon.”

The blue girl seemed to accept that answer and called to her menu bar. Pale fingers typed in the directions and with one more gesture to the man; a bright light appeared.

She was gone.

Greg let out a small sigh once she was gone and turned to Connie. “You don’t seem tired; you know you could have went with her right?”

Connie stood up from the table, she smiled softly. “It’s not my place. She has to do this on her own,”

“You’re pretty wise for your age,” Greg said almost suspiciously before letting it go. “But you were right to let her go off on her own. Have a good night sleep.”

Connie smiled softly as she walked back into the van.

Now that she knew everything was back on track, she was sure she would have no trouble getting some sleep.

* * *

 

Connie didn’t know when Sapphire came in but when she woke up, she was in a deep slumber beneath her. Greg barging in with news was what woke her from her own nap, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

“I knew you would be able to calm her down,” Pearl said softly as she and Steven walked out of the bedroom. “Rose just called and told me that I can bring Sapphire and the kids back now but I think that we should all wait until she wakes up.”

Greg agreed. “Yeah, she needs rest,” He motioned for all of them to follow him outside, he took his previous seat. “While I work on this how about you tell me what Rose told you,” He sighed. “I haven’t really spoken to her with everything that is going on.”

"Ruby is well, I know that is what you were thinking," Pearl looked away as she took the seat opposite from Greg. "We all were,"

She continued. "Rose was able to stop the bleeding and then she used her healing abilities to patch Ruby up. Even though she is healed, Rose wrapped her up in the event that she is sore, but she needs her rest."

Connie and Steven chose to sit on the wooden steps leading up into the van, their heads tucked in their knees as they quietly listened. Steven kept rubbing his eyes, he leaned his head on Connie’s shoulder and fought not to go back to sleep.

"Is she awake now?" Greg chuckled. "If she is I can imagine her fighting against Amethyst to get out of her bed,"

Pearl shook her head with a smile as she looked back at the van window where Sapphire was seen sleeping. "She was until Rose told her to get some sleep,"

"And before that?" Greg also looked at Sapphire's sleeping form.

Pearl smirked knowingly. "She wouldn't shut up about her,"

Connie grinned, knowing that everything was slowly falling back into place. Her parents were each falling for each other.

"Same thing on my side," He chuckled softly before letting out a sigh. "I'm glad she is alright though."

The skinny girl nodded in agreement. "Once Sapphire wakes up we will leave,"

"That sounds good but make sure that she sees me before she leaves." When she gave him a questioning look he scratched his neck. "I uhm, have some food leftover and she seemed to really like it so…" He lied.

Pearl merely nodded and gestured for the kids to go back inside to get some rest. Connie was wide awake and followed with a sigh while Steven happy trudged his tired body back to the bedroom. That left Greg outside to tinker while Pearl made her way to the kitchen.

Sapphire wasn't the only one who could get some leftovers.

* * *

 

When Sapphire woke up Pearl was towering over her with arms crossed. "We can go back now,"

She had never moved so fast before in her life. Sapphire began to teleport when Pearl placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I'm going to head back to the temple with the kids and you can do the same," She pointed to the door. "But Greg wants to see you before you leave."

Sapphire sighed softly as she walked outside.

Pearl looked down at the children beside her. “Okay, when we get back we’ll get you a room set up where you can rest. I’m sorry you two had to go through this and I’m questioning if you two should even be fighting with us.”

Steven nodded, looking for an out. “Uh, yeah! Fighting isn’t really our thing; we’d just like to try and live a normal life in here.”

“I understand,” Pearl smiled at them for the first time that day. “I’ll let Rose speak with you and she can decide what to do to help you out.”

Connie wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Steven being around Rose, just in case he said something he shouldn’t, but she nodded. “That would be great, thanks,”

“Alright, I’ll meet you at the temple.” Pearl said, teleporting and leaving their presence in a flash.

Steven looked at Connie sheepishly. “We could just leave now,”

“No, then they’d look for us and waste unnecessary time.” Connie mumbled before looking outside to where Sapphire was being given the ice sword and shield; a look of joy on her face. “…come on,”

“Okay,” Steven looked at his father once more before grabbing her hand.

Together they headed back to the temple.

* * *

 

Steven and Connie took a seat at the kitchen island table as the others spoke from the living room a few feet away. Sapphire still hadn’t returned and the others were starting to worry.

"I hope she's okay." Sadie whispered from her spot on the couch beside Lars.

The brown-haired boy crossed his arms. "Rose said she was fine alright! Just relax, Ruby is tough anyway," He said thoughtfully. "She would never go out that easily."

"You're right…" Sadie smiled.

The warp pad then turned on and Lars moved away from Sadie and to Sapphire. The blonde hair girl dropped her smile and looked to the floor.

Lars opened his arms for a hug. "Sapphire are yo-"

A soft 'not now' filled the air as a large gust of wind hit his empty arms. Sapphire had used her speed to find her way to Ruby's room.

"Rejected!" Amethyst shouted from the kitchen.

Steven laughed softly at Amethyst’s teasing, he was glad that some things hadn’t changed.

Lars blushed brightly as Sadie and Pearl giggled softly in the background; he folded his arms. "Yeah whatever she just needs some space from you losers,"

The purple gem shook her head as she picked at her macaroni and cheese. "Nahh she just needs some boo loving time,"

"Amethyst!" Pearl shouted with a blush on her face.

Steven jumped down from the chair, but before he could move Connie grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”

“I want to see them make up,” Steven said innocently.

Connie’s face flushed, knowing a little bit more than the younger program. “W-we can’t okay, it’s a private moment for them and we have to speak to Rose so we can leave first.”

She jumped down as well and looked him in the eyes. “Promise me you won’t reveal anything. I know she’s your mother and you want to know more about her but you have to understand that you can’t do anything to change what happened to her,” She couldn’t stress that enough. “She died a hero Steven, you wouldn’t want her death to be in vain by changing everything.”

Steven couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t thinking about it. “But maybe a lot of good can come out of her staying alive.”

“You won’t exist if that happens Steven,” Connie began, tears filling her eyes at the mere thought.

Steven shook his head. “I don’t care about me I just—“

“Excuse me, Stiles and Emma, Pearl said you two needed to talk to me,” Rose spoke up, startling the children to jump and face her. “Come into my office,” She gestured to the universal door and used her gem to open it; she stepped inside without warning.

Steven was quick to run inside while Connie walked over slowly, she swallowed.

Connie had a weird feeling about this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is not a thanksgiving themed chapter in the slightest but I felt like I had to update something and Going the Distance would have taken too long. I’ll think about posting a new chapter for The Firebender but there is a lot going on in that story too so I’m not too sure.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter and enjoy your holidays.

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a sequel to Crystal Gems Online; it’s kind of like a side story to a few adventures that Steven and Connie experience once all of the fighting is over. I didn’t give these two a lot of screen time with the action so I wanted to change that a little.
> 
> I had this idea in my head for a while and finally decided to put it together. This story won’t be too long, maybe three or four chapter or so.
> 
> Hope you liked this first peek into what is coming; please let me know what you think and I’ll see you soon.


End file.
